1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to a method for treating abnormal polyglutamine (polyQ)-mediated disease with a pharmaceutical composition comprising trehalose-based compound, which can enhance autophagy activity to achieve the purpose of suppressing aggregation of polyglutamine in a subject in need.
2. Description of Related Art
The spinocerebellar atrophy is referred as spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), which is a complex group of heterogeneous autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder. Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), caused by expanded CAG repeats encoding a long polyQ tract in mutant proteins, and the misfolded polyQ proteins accumulate in the nucleus and cytoplasm of neural cells. The clinical symptom of spinocerebellar atrophy comprises cerebellar degeneration, dysfunctions of nervous system and other parts.
On the current market, there is no drug for curing or suppressing polyglutamine related spinocerebellar ataxia progression, and the symptom thereof is irreversible: patients may fail to appropriately control their movements at the beginning; with the deterioration of disease condition, patients become failing to walk and write progressively, and finally become failing to talk and swallow. In the worst case, it may bring patients to an end with death. However, even though there is atrophy of the cerebellum, the brainstem, and the spinal cord, the intelligence is completely unaffected, so that patients can be clearly conscious of the fact that their bodies gradually become inactive.
In view of the gradually increased global population suffering from cerebellar atrophy, what is needed is to find a compound capable of reducing the accumulation of polyglutamine to be used for the manufacture of pharmaceutical compositions for abnormal accumulated polyglutamine-mediated diseases, to serve as an adjuvant therapy for neurodegenerative disease, such as cerebellar atrophy, thereby effectively slowing down the disease progression, as well as providing the patients with a better quality of life.